


Butterfly Steps

by sinelanguage



Category: Xenoblade Chronicles
Genre: Gen, Xenoblade spoilers, happy yuletide!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-18
Updated: 2015-12-18
Packaged: 2018-05-07 09:38:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5451995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sinelanguage/pseuds/sinelanguage
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some things take longer to get used to than others; turning Homs again and dealing with a post-battle, brand-new land is just one of them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Butterfly Steps

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sleepfighter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleepfighter/gifts).



> Yuletide request: Sharla and Fiora encapsulate one of the things I enjoy most about Xenoblade: interestingly written characters who have both outside family and friends and are also invested in the main party. I would really enjoy a fic that shows them both away from the group having adventures and friendly times! And killing a dinosaur. Those goddamn dinosaurs.
> 
> ALSO: Post canon relaxation. That could be a thing. I am always invested in the aftermath of that game, for sure.

The plains in front of them expanded into the unexplored, but Sharla focused on her peripheral view of Fiora rather than the grasses ahead. She wanted her curiosity to be only that; the girl had regenerated her Homs body in little over six months, which was more curious than anything discovered after the dust had settled. However, the feelings had sprung less from curiosity, and more from _worry_ , a familiar but recently fleeting feeling.

Having Fiora back brought back many fleeting feelings and emotions, the good along with the bad, and she would have to focus on more than just the odd nostalgia of having a friend back to make it through the week.

“So, what do we have to find out here?”

Despite Sharla’s focus on Fiora, she still was caught off guard, ungracefully catching her boots on the grasses in front of them. Shaking her boot of, Sharla turned to Fiora, “I’m hoping this place has some Ardun, we haven’t found them by the new colonies and we need some Elder Beards.”

“We haven’t scouted around here much, and Reyn and Dunban haven’t been able to find it north of here,” Sharla smiled slightly, “And I don’t want to send them out again after how much the both of them complained last time.”

Fiora laughed, and Sharla felt her shoulders relaxing- she hadn’t even noticed they were tense.

“Reyn says he wants to go back on more impressive missions, but Shulk offered to take him to fight that monster that only appears on rainy days, and he completely balked,” Sharla shook her head, “Not because of the fight, mind you- he hasn’t changed _that_ much- he just didn’t want to catch a cold.”

Despite Fiora laughing again, it didn’t feel as natural as the last time.

“But, really. I wanted to go out for myself, I think I needed a break from being a doctor for a bit,” Sharla continued, waving off her uncertainty about Fiora’s reaction, “I mean- don’t get me wrong, I don’t regret becoming a doctor, it’s just a lot of new information to process, and I need the down time to process it.”

“I understand, don’t worry,” Fiora said. She paused, and Sharla wondered if Fiora felt the same twinge of awkwardness she did.

After the pause lapsed into more of a silence then a pause, Sharla spoke, “Are you wondering why I chose you for this?”

“Kind of,” Fiora admitted, “I haven’t really been back very long, and I don’t know the area as much. A lot’s changed.”

“That’s actually why,” Sharla said, “Both of us have been out of commision for a while, you know? You in the chamber, me as a doctor. Nothing better than a refresher.”

Silence fell again, and Fiora looked down, but only for a moment. Stretching her hands up above her, she said, “Yeah, it’s- it’s certainly been a while.”

Watching Fiora’s movements, tense despite trying not to look it, Sharla couldn’t help but wonder if Fiora needed a break, too.

Not wanting to test the limits of her probing, Sharla said, “Besides, I can’t ween any information about your love life out of Reyn, or _Dunban_ -”

“-H-Hey!” Fiora’s tense movements turned defensive and elaborate, trying to protest but not look too embarrassed.

“Shulk is even worse, but I’m sure you’ll break sometime-”

“Sharla!”

* * *

The plains had so far been more unsurprising than curious, with Fiora and Sharla only getting caught in small skirmishes with enemies. Nothing that they needed, and nothing enough to break more than a thin sweat.

“I’ve been wondering,” Sharla said, as the sun set across the plains, and the light turned soft and fleeting.

Fiora groaned, a bit too overdramatically to be genuinely annoyed, “This better not be about gossip.”

“Oh hush, I was only teasing you.”

The only response Sharla got was a solidly unconvinced “mmhm.”

“Teasing! No, this is more… well,” Sharla sighed, “I was wondering how different it is to be a Machina than a Homs.”

“Huh?” Fiora stopped, Sharla stopping with her.

Sighing, Sharla settled down on the plains grass, patting the grass beside her. Despite her hesitancy at the topic, Fiora followed. Keeping the corner of her gaze on Fiora, Sharla continued, “There’s a lot of different things I have to learn in order to treat both Machina and Homs, and it would probably be a good idea to get a good idea on their differences.”

Fiora stretched again, the movement looking just as tense as it had earlier in the day. Still, she smiled a sideways grin and said, “Machina are just a bit different, yeah.”

“I know that,” Sharla said, knocking her shoulder into Fiora’s, “It’s just useful to know the differences.”

Fiora nodded, and stretched her hands again. Instead of focusing on Sharla, she focused on her own movements, “They hurt in different ways, I guess. You know how you get all achy muscles from running? Machina are more at the joints, like you can really feel your knees grind together.”

Setting her hands to the ground, Fiora continued, “Stretching’s really different, too. You get a jolt in your fingertips! I kind of miss that, sometimes.”

Sharla nodded, her gaze as focused on Fiora’s limbs as Fiora had been. She looked toward Fiora’s face as she asked, “Is it weird? Not being Machina anymore.”

“It’s a bit wierd,” Fiora admitted, voice softer than before, “I mean, it’s not too different, it’s just- the little thing. It’s like, well, alright, hear me out- but one summer, Reyn grew like, an entire foot-”

Sharla snorted, “-he used to be short?”

“-Shorter than Shulk! He was so mad about that, for the longest time, but-” Sharla laughed, despite herself, “Hey, don’t distract me now-”

“You started this metaphor-”

“-don’t point fingers! Anyway- _anyway_ \- so, he spent the whole summer not really used to what he was doing. Running into things, tripping around- tossing things to Shulk too hard, and Shulk wasn’t exactly a _bruiser_ , so he’d accidentally knock em ever, and I’d give him an earful for that.”

“So it’s like your limbs are too big for your body,” Sharla said, “That makes sense.”

“Yeah, everything just feels- _off_ , somehow,” Fiora’s brows furrowed, “It shouldn’t feel like that, I didn’t really feel like that when I became a Machina, I don’t think, but now- it feels like I’m stepping into old shoes that don’t quite fit.”

Fiora wringed her hands together, fingers staying interlocked, “Everything just feels too- fleshy?”

“Fleshy,” Sharla repeated, “You had a nice metaphor, but fleshy?”

“Oh, stop it!” Fiora protested, laughing as she did, “Fleshy’s a good word for it-”

“ _Fleshy_ ,” Sharla said, and Fiora knocked her in the shoulder then flopped to her side.

Not even bothering to set up a decent camp, Fiora waved her hand in the air, “I’m going to go to bed now, you just, keep guard.”

Sharla laughed again, then started a fire in front of them. Fiora had tried to pretend to be asleep already, but the warmth of the fire was too enticing to turn over and face it.The departing soft light had retreated over the plains, darkness falling over them, and only the fire remained light.

* * *

As Sharla was fearing that they had run in the wrong direction to find any Arduns, they found a grouping of Armu, signalling they were probably heading in the right direction. At first, they had decided to veer away from them, but with some prodding on Fiora’s part, they decided that the smaller dinosaurs would make better practice.

“We need to corner one of them,” Sharla said, pointing her chin in the direction of the beasts, “We’re outnumbered, and I’m support, not offense.”

Fiora nodded, crouching down further in the grass. “I can get some good hits from behind, fire a warning shot and we’ll get one of them as it scatters.”

Giving Fiora a terse nod back, Sharla took the gun off her back and peered over to the Armu. She could shoot a daze at the Armu on the side of the group, and it should daze one and shock the rest enough to flee.

Preparing her rounds, Sharla signalled to Fiora the intended target. Fiora took out her blades as well, watching the Armu with the same intent.

Sharla took her aim, hesitating for longer than she should, then fired. The bullet nearly grazed the target, barely hitting it, but it was enough to stun. The Armu reared, and just as they had predicted, the rest fled, while one stayed behind.

Taking that as her cue to attack, Fiora struck its back, knocking it on its side.

“Good one, Fiora,” Sharla yelled, dodging to the side as the Armu turned toward her, “This shouldn’t take long at all.”

Fiora had already prepared her blades again, side-stepping around the dinosaur in hopes for a better angle. Sharla watched as she hit once, twice, then missed her third hit, falling to her side and skidding to a halt.

Preparing her gun for a heal round, Sharla felt her gun heat under her fingers, but before she could aim, the Armu had ignored Fiora’s attacks and started toward her.

“Sharla- watch out!”

Sharla couldn’t respond, only hope she could change rounds fast enough. As the dinosaur veered toward her, Sharla took in a quick breath, aimed her new round, and fired.

The Armu fell, and the fields turned quiet again.

Despite being back on her feet, Fiora hadn’t made a motion toward her. Sharla made the effort, after cooling off her weapon and placing it on her back.

“You’re still not used to fighting like this, are you?”

Fiora shook her head, “Really obvious, isn’t it?”

“Don’t let it get to you,” Sharla said, hesitantly, and Fiora shook her head again, harsher than last time.

“How can you say that?” Fiora said. She hadn’t sheathed her weapons yet, and they lay shaking in her hands, “I almost got you killed. I’m really sorry, I should have known this was a bad idea.”

“I didn’t want to return to this form before Zanza because I knew I would be a burden, but I thought- after everything settled- I wouldn’t feel this way, but I still _do_ ,” Fiora continued, only stopping when Sharla placed a hand on Fiora’s wrist.

“It was an honest mistake, Fiora, no need to beat yourself up,” Sharla said, “We’ve all made worse.”

Fiora pulled her hand away from Sharla, only to sheath her weapons. Sharla took the chance to set her hand on Fiora’s shoulder, squeezing.

“Everything’s changed so much,” Fiora finally said, “Every _one_ ’s changed so much, and it’s only been six months. I feel like I’m going to be left behind, playing catch up, since I’m not used to anything yet.”

Sharla squeezed Fiora’s shoulder again, “No one expects you to transition back right away. It’s going to be a bit awkward for a bit, but you’ll get used to it.”

“I don’t want to be a burden-”

“-don’t start that again,” Sharla said firmly, “Couldn’t have defeated it without you, and you couldn’t have defeated it without me. We carry the burden together, alright?”

Fiora sighed again; she didn’t seem fully convinced, but she gave a watery smile to Sharla anyway. “Alright,” she said, “Alright, we’ll get back to normal together, then.”

* * *

They found the Ardun the next day, alone and in the same expansive plains. It grazed on the plains grass, and if it weren’t for the multiple tusks, it would have looked peaceful and unmenacing.

“We should start with a surprise attack from the back,” Sharla started, “We don’t need the warning shot like last time, since it’s alone.”

Fiora nodded, but looked uncertain, still, her hands fiddling with her blades, “You think you could hit me with a shield bullet after I go in?”

“Course,” Sharla said, reaching for her weapon herself, “I’ve got you covered.”

Turning to Sharla for one last look, Fiora said, “You ready, then?”

“If you are.”

Fiora didn’t say anything, only giving Sharla a wink and a grin. She flipped her blades in front of her, checking her grip one last time, then charged. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! hope you enjoy this. :) I was particularly invested in some of the tidbits of Fiora’s character post-canon- reading about how she became a Homs again, it struck me that this might remind her a little too much about feeling like a burden, especially with some of her and Sharla’s heart to heart conversations. Sorry if this is more… dialog than action heavy! I love their characters, and wished to see more serious discussions between them, rather than the rather boys-filled ones we got.


End file.
